Sunday, October 12th, 2008

De Oliveira: In defense of taking vacations

Never feel bad about doing absolutely nothing on your days off

After graduation, students can look forward to long work days with little vacation time. Why not enjoy summer breaks while you still can?

By Patrick de Oliveira (Contact)

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

I admit it.

I had an unproductive summer. When I talk to my friends they mention how they advanced their graduation by six credit hours, made a bundle during the summer, or how they snagged that great resume boosting internship. I got nothing of that. Instead I visited desert beaches, spent my nights in bars, my days in bed, and read Ivan Illich and George Orwell.

And I don’t regret it one bit.

Isn’t that what summer vacation is all about? Engaging in leisurely activities, relaxing and sometimes just doing absolutely nothing? When was this spirit corrupted and summer became a few months to cram a bunch of things together and get them done? I cringe just imagining such a scenario.

Students taking summer classes justify it by saying that they will graduate quicker. They work harder now so they can start working in the real world sooner. What a horrible feeling it must be once you graduate, get a real job and realize that because of the great labor laws in this country you will probably never get a decent vacation again. Yes, if there is a time to enjoy summer it is now, before you sacrifice your body and your mind to the dreadful work ethic of western society.

When again will you have three months to do whatever you want? It’s not a big deal if you take a little longer to graduate, increase in debt a few thousand dollars, or take longer to climb the job ladder; you can work that out. Now, ask someone who has a steady job to get a three-month vacation and see what that person says. It is virtually impossible to have a decent vacation once you start working in the United States. According to a recent study by the Center for Economic Policy Research, the United States is the only country in the industrialized world that doesn’t require paid annual leave or paid public holidays. France on the other hand mandates employers to give at least 30 days of paid annual leave and one paid holiday.

Until this aberration is changed and the American government starts giving leisure the value it deserves, college students will need to take advantage of the time off they have. Instead of working all summer so they can pay for summer classes, students should abdicate both and do something less useful.

Because of the deficiencies of our education system, some students do have to work during the summer to afford their college education. However—and this is purely anecdotal evidence—I have found that generally not to be the case. Most students end up working more than they need to buy superfluous items like iPods, DVDs, video games and cable subscriptions. Instead of wasting your money with those, why not invest in time off?

We have the rest of our lives to be enslaved by work. In the end most of us will succumb and work harder and harder so that we can accumulate more and more stuff, and if we don’t work as hard as we can, everything—the government, newspapers, our parents —will conspire to make us feel guilty. So, before we lose our innocence and convert to the 9-to-5 religion, why don’t we take advantage of the little time we have and, whenever the opportunity presents itself, not do much.

De Oliveira is a Belo Horizonte, Brazil junior in journalism, history and peace and conflict studies.

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